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Transwar Japanese Thought at "the End of Ideology": History, Literature, and the Congress for Cultural Freedom in 1950s Japan.
- Source :
-
Journal of Asian Studies . May2024, Vol. 83 Issue 2, p237-257. 21p. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- In 1957, the Japanese affiliate of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, an international anticommunist organization dedicated to the liberal ideals of the "free world," convened a symposium under the title "Tradition and Transition in Japanese Culture" ("Nihon bunka no dentō to hensen"). The event put noted Kyoto School intellectuals who had earlier conceptualized Japan's unique mission within world history during the war years—including Kōsaka Masaaki, Suzuki Shigetaka, and Nishitani Keiji—into dialogue with postwar thinkers who advocated for freedom of thought in opposition to what they viewed as the closed-mindedness of ideology. Drawing on rarely cited archival documents, this article explores how the symposium raised key questions about the fate of world historical thinking in transwar Japan at the same time that it tested the putative universality of postwar liberal ideals against what the symposium participants called the particularity of Japanese culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00219118
- Volume :
- 83
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Asian Studies
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 178091684
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1215/00219118-11015715